Tambakol Steak

Tambakol steak is made by frying tuna steaks in oil and then simmering those fried fish in a sauce made by garlic, onion, ginger, soy sauce, calamansi juice, oyster sauce, pepper, sugar, corn starch and topped up with onion rings. Tambakol steak is a variation of the classic Pinoy bistek which uses the tambakol instead of beef or pork. With the fish being the meat, the tambakol steak presents a healthier and guilt-free version of the dish. The steak can be enjoyed as it is or served with hot steaming rice.e.

TAMBAKOL STEAK RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 1/2 kilo yellow fin tuna
• 4 cloves of garlic (chopped)
• 1 medium onion (cut into rings)
• 1 small ginger (minced)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup calamansi juice (adjust as needed)
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• Black pepper to taste
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar (optional)
• Slurry (1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons water)
• White onions (cut into rings for toppings)
• Oil (for frying and sauteing)

Directions:

1. Prepare the yellow fin tuna steaks. Lay them on a flat plate and then season with salt and pepper. Rub thoroughly. Flip them and also season the other side.
2. Heat some oil in a pot using medium heat. Fry the fish steaks until golden brown. Flip to cook the other side. Transfer them to a strainer or paper towel to drain excess oil. Set aside.
3. Heat some oil in another pan. Add the red onion rings and garlic. Saute for a few minutes until aromatic. Add the chopped ginger and saute. Next, add the soy sauce, calamansi juice and oyster sauce. Stir to mix well. Season with black pepper. Add water and stir. Allow the sauce to boil for a few minutes until reduced. Add the sugar and the slurry. Mix well until the sauce becomes thick.
4. Add the fried fish steaks and baste them with the sauce. Flip them to soak the other side until well coated with the sauce. Cover the pot and allow them to cook for 3 minutes. Flip to cook evenly.
5. Add some white onion rings on top. Cover the pot again and let simmer for 2 – 3 minutes. Then, turn the heat off.
6. Transfer the yellow fin tuna steak to a serving plate. Enjoy this as it is or serve it with a lot of hot steaming rice. Yum!

WHAT IS A TAMBAKOL?

Tambakol, or yellow fin tuna, is a large variety of edible fish which grows on salt water fish. Most of them are cultivated in Palawan and in Navotas– where the latter is considered as the country’s fishing capital. The tambakol is commonly associated with the tulingan due to its large size. They are often sold in the market as a whole fish or cut into steaks.

Some of the most common tambakol dishes include ginataang tambakol, sinaing na isda, sinigang na tambakol inihaw, and the simple fried ones dipped in ketchup. Tambakol can also be used in sushi dishes. For this recipe, we are going to explore a new way to enjoy the tambakol steaks.

TAMBAKOL STEAK

When a steak is served at the table, there is a 99% chance that there is something to be celebrated or the person deserves some good food after a long day. When I wsa a child, I was always waiting for a birthday or a graduation or a wedding to have good food, especially a steak. Now that I’m an adult, realization hits that we do not really need to wait for a celebration because everyone of us deserves good food with or without celebration. Why not celebrate our everyday?

But since meat prices are rising everyday, we must be smart enough in preparing our good food. One of the best alternative for beef steaks are the fish ones. Large fishes like the tambakol is best when you want a steak on a budget. Also, fishes are known to have healthier oils than the saturated oils from the beef. It’s a win-win!

If you wanna know how to make tambakol steaks with my version of the homemade sauce, read and follow the quick recipe below. Happy cooking!

HOW TO MAKE TAMBAKOL STEAK

Making a steak with fish is much easier and quicker to prepare compared to meat-based steaks. For this recipe, the simple large tambakol slabs will be turned into a 5-star steaks which is best served for dinner.

First, grab your tambakol steaks. Usually, large yellow fin tuna are are already cut into steaks so all you need to do is to choose the freshest ones. Normally, fresh fishes are brought to the market during early morning. You can also opt to choose the frozen ones from the grocery.

Once the tambakol steaks are prepared, simply fry them one by one. Don’t forget to lightly season them with salt and pepper. If you want, you can dredge them in some flour first before frying to avoid to much oil splattering. When done, set them aside to drain the excess oil as we make the sauce.

Just like the normal steak, a fish steak needs its sauce. You can choose among the different steak sauces like gravy and tomato-based sauces or you can try making your own. For this recipe, I created a sauce from scratch by using the classic Pinoy bistek seasonings like soy sauce, calamansi, onions, ginger and oyster sauce. The sauce is created by sauteing the aromatics and then adding the rest of the seasonings. The sauce will truly enhance the steak by so many levels so make sure to do a taste test and adjust the flavors in it. You can make it sweeter by adding sugar.

Once the sauce is set, add the fried fish tambakol steaks to the pan and allow them to absorb the sauce. Another way is to serve them separately, either drizzling the sauce upon serving or having the sauce as a dipping sauce. Don’t forget to add a lot of white onion rings!

COOKING TIPS

• If you want this dish with less oil, you can opt to bake or grill the tambakol steaks instead of deep frying them.
• If you want a smooth and thick sauce, you can use powdered aromatics (garlic powder, onion powder, ginger powder) instead of the fresh ones.

Paano Magluto ng Tambakol Steak

Mga Sangkap:

• 1/2 kilo tambakol
• 4 butil ng bawang (hiniwa)
• 1 sibuyas na pula (hiniwa ng rings)
• 1 maliit na luya (hiniwa ng maliliit)
• 1/4 tasang toyo
• 1/4 tasang calamansi juice (pwede dagdagan)
• 1 kutsarang oyster sauce
• 1/2 tasang tubig
• paminta
• 1/2 kutsarang asukal (optional)
• Slurry (1 kutsaritang cornstarch na tinunaw sa 2 kutsarang tubig)
• Sibuyas na puti (hiniwa ng rings)
• Mantika (pang prito at gisa)

Paano Lutuin:

1. Ihanda ang mga tambakol steaks at ilatag sa pinggan. Budburan ang mga ito ng asin at paminta. Baliktarin ang mga ito at budburan din ang kabilang side.
2. Magpainit ng mantika gamit ang katamtamang apoy. Iprito ang mga tambakol hanggang maging golden brown. Baliktarin ang mga ito para maluto ang kabilang side. Kapag luto na, ilipat ang mga ito sa strainer o paper towel para tumulo ang sobrang mantika. Isantabi.
3. Magpainit ng mantika sa isa pang kawali. Ilagay ang mga pulang sibuyas at bawang. Igisa ang mga ito ng ilang minuto hanggang maging brown ng konti. Sunod na ilagay ang luya at igisa. Ilagay ang toyo, calamansi juice at oyster sauce. Haluin ng mabuti at timplahan ng paminta. Lagyan ito ng konting tubig at hayaang kumulo hanggang lumapot. Huling ilagay ang asukal at ang slurry. Haluin hanggang lumapot ang sauce.
4. Ilagay ang mga pritong tambakol at buhusan ng sauce. Baliktarin ang mga ito para malagyan rin ng sauce ang kabilang side. Takpan ang kawali at hayaan itong maluto ng 3 minuto. Baliktarin paminsan minsan para maging pantay ang luto.
5. Ilagay ang mga hiniwang puting sibuyas bilang toppings. Takpan ang kawali at lutuin pa ito ng 2 – 3 minuto bago patayin ang apoy.
6. Ilipat ang tambakol steakes sa serving plate. Papakin ito na parang steak o samahan ng mainit na kanin. Yum!